How Neil Gaiman Reinvented Doctor Who (The Doctor's Wife)

this video has been sponsored and approved by audible so last time on full fat videos we traveled to june 1 2011 and took a deep dive into x-men first class this week i want to travel back just a few weeks prior to the 14th of may 2011. i've always had a soft spot for neil gaiman's work from american gods to the sandman more on that in a bit gaiman's imaginative worlds are constantly surprising heartbreaking and all kinds of screwed up and weird to be honest and he's proven to be just as entertaining a person as the world he creates his insight into writing as well as his humorous takes on just about well anything are always a joy he's definitely one of those writers i could sit and listen to as he reads me the phone book you know i've noted in the past that i'm not big into pure fantasy but the magical rules and quirks of a game and universe always draw me in and so when it was confirmed that he would be contributing a story to the matt smith run of stephen moffat's doctor who well i was beyond hyped i wasn't sure why i was hyped to be fair i just remember lots of other older doctor who fans being really excited at the time on forums and comments sections of fan sites i used to lurk amongst when i was 14. you see the episode that would end up becoming the doctor's wife after numerous revisions titles and even migrating from series 5 to 6 was actually my first foray into neil gaiman's work it was because of the doctor's wife that i saw after his other works and came to appreciate the writer as much as i do today the doctor's wife is one of those unique episodes of who something transpires that has never happened before in the history of the show and might never happen again the soul of his greatest companion is ripped from its machine shell and placed within a flesh body the doctor and the tardis meet for the very first time but this is more than just random fanboy wish fulfillment this once in a lifetime scenario is a springboard to explore themes of loneliness and belonging of identity it allows the show to lean into its origins in an illuminating and engrossing way without stripping away the magic and the mystery it's an episode that's full of important revelations and confirmations to the entire mythology then you stole me and i stole you no but i always took you where you needed to go and of course the confirmation that timelords could indeed change gender and as we'll find out in greater detail the doctor's wife was an episode that faced many many challenges constantly restricted by budget and undergoing many rewrites and changes but it goes to prove that to reinvent the mythology and give it a fresh new spin doesn't mean you have to tear anything down to try and make as loud as statement as possible on what you think doctor who should be sometimes it's something as small as one line that can change everything here's how neil gaiman reinvented doctor who in 45 minutes give or take from the opening few minutes this feels like a distinct doctor episode i mean look at these sets and costumes you can immediately see why this story was expensive we're presented with two intriguing narratives right off the bat the peculiar predicament between auntie uncle and a young woman named idris and the doctor who has a knock at the front door in deep space i've got mail this psychic container is actually a revamped version of the hypercube from the second doctor story the war games the first of many allusions to the past gamer noted on his blog back in 2011 that most of the trivia mythology was just sitting in the back of my head waiting to be pulled out that's awesome within the first two minutes so much exposition is neatly delivered we find out all about the psychic containers and how they work we're told that we're traveling outside of the universe whatever that means not to mention the corsair an intriguing new rebel time lords as ever smith manages to quickfire all of this expositional dialogue and he makes it feel like excitable doctor babbling there are no time lords left anywhere in the universe but the universe isn't where we're going in an emergency we wrap up our thoughts in psychic containers and send them through time and space in truth it's setting up so many crucial beats in an incredibly short space of time and it even defines decades of canon didn't feel like himself unless he had the tattoo or herself a couple of times oh she was a bad girl yep there it is the first concrete confirmation that time lords can change gender upon regeneration this scene walked so jody whittaker could run it's insane to think now because we have joey whitaker as the doctor and even before that we had michelle gomez's master but before all of that this this was all that we had that little line that blew all the possibilities of who wide open on that note the corsair is really cool not only is it refreshing to hear that they're one of the nice ones considering how often the doctor runs into douchebag time lords we're told that they're actually alive at this point in who can and that's a very big deal being a quote not even first draft the corsair was almost much more i i met him he had a tattoo of a snake anua burus on his arm after every regeneration he'd get that tattoo i spoke to him once oh yes i said take me with you i could go out there with you i could be your assistant so that was how you got your start traveling with him what oh oh no he he laughed at me i was 12. can't really blame him so this was eons ago so yeah the corsair was going to be the doctor before the doctor mother felt it answers too many questions that should be left alone he's the doctor he does what he does for reasons too vast and terrible to relate and yeah moffatt is ultimately right but it's an interesting bit of potential head canon isn't it also he does what he does for reasons too vast and terrible to relate here we have a showrunner that understands not knowing the doctor's origins is essential to the makeup of the show idris is quickly and very unceremoniously murdered as it turns out gaiman originally had an entire opening sequence to add more texture to this fleeting character you know in early drafts we learned a lot more about idris and she was imprisoned on the asteroid and she didn't become the tardis until about 20 minutes in but it only got interesting once she became the tardis so we moved that stuff up so much auntie and uncle backstory in my head and in previous scripts and there was even a lot more that we shot adrian and elizabeth were funny and creepy at the same time and they had dialogue that indicated that normally the tardis is when placed in human form say a few words then burn up and die what al tardis did in idris's body was unheard of but then it was too long so those scenes along with many wonderful uncle and auntie lines they went away even though we don't learn anything about idris the real idris there's something even sadder about that the doctor never gets a moment to lament on the loss of her life so that the story could commence because he wasn't even there this episode starts with a woman's murder amongst all those other things and no one ever realizes or gets the chance to mourn her immediately this episode has set up some hefty stakes and then it sees our heroes travel to a bubble universe and then and then the tardis flies out of its metal confines and finds itself in a human body [Music] holy hell that's all before the title credits it wasn't until i came to re-watching this episode for the video that i truly appreciated what a wonderfully tight little piece of writing the pre-credit sequence is the episode gets to the meat of the action exceedingly quick but at one point the tardis team comprised of the doctor amy and rory were going to be in the midst of another adventure entirely amy and rory and the doctor have been taken prisoner by a bunch of sort of rather strange alien peasants we would have found team tardis moments away from being sacrificed to rain gods on a primitive planet the core says psychic container would have found them and inadvertently scared the aliens away holding them captive i always loved the idea of interrupting another adventure because if the box hadn't appeared something would have come up and they would have defeated the rain guards and put the planet to right before leaving again but in this case they just sort of they got five minutes into one adventure and fled for another one just one of many good ideas the wright was unable to see reach the screen the idea was in some form reused for a short featuring river in the doctor on the series 7 box set but before we delve deeper into the doctor's wife why not check out another gaming classic albeit with a fresh twist by listening to the new audible original the sandman based on the best-selling dc graphic novels written by neil gaiman which were hailed by the los angeles times magazine as the greatest epic in the history of comic books this new adaptation is adapted and directed by dirk max decades in the making the sandman stars james mcavoy in the title role and features a powerhouse ensemble cast including rizar med kat dennings michael sheen and many more follow morpheus the lord of dreams as he's pulled from the dream realm and imprisoned on earth when he finally escapes he must restore his power to rebuild his dominion and that's just the start for those worried about alterations to game and sacred texts you shouldn't worry as the sandman is a near perfectly faithful adaptation of the original retaining virtually every line of dialogue and narration from the comic what it adds are powerful and vivid descriptions of the action which do more than simply replace the original's imagery they create a new and more visceral experience entirely you're not going to listen to a better comic book adaptation this year and the sandman is available exclusively on audible so go to audible.com the sadman and listen now you don't want to miss out on this instead the trio blasts off moments into the episode and find themselves in scrapyard at the end of the universe not enough outside all setting the episode here was a deliberate choice from gaiman we of course started with a junkyard in an earthly child over 50 years ago and it's appropriate for a story that sees the doctor lament on his origins doctor who begins in a junkyard the entire story 47 years ago the very first episode was set in a junkyard and so trying to decide where i want to set my episode and write an episode that was really a love letter to doctor who the idea of setting it in essentially the totters lane at the end of the universe seemed like a really good place to start and it really is a testament to the production design as well this great big ship above them apes the derelict shipping alien there's also loads of down-to-earth human clutter like washing machines and bathtubs it feels like the perfect blend between earthbound and outer space that doctor who melds so well imagine a great big soap bubble with one of those tiny little bubbles on the outside okay but it's nothing like that the explanation the bubble universe is great giving you an easy to understand analogy before promptly throwing it all out the window just to make it feel even more magical nonsensical we're in a tiny bubble universe sticking to the side of the bigger bubble universe yeah no but if it helps yes and just when you think it couldn't get any more jam-packed idris comes crashing into the scene goodbye no no goodbye the tardis's concept of time perceiving it in a truly wibbly-wobbly fashion is fantastic what have i stolen me are you going to steal me are you stolen me you are stinging me open tenses are difficult aren't they it's a neat way of laying the groundwork for beats later on idris is the perfect chekhov's gun you will be angry the little boxes will make you angry there's also a great dramatic irony in knowing that idris is in some way connected to the tardis even if we do not know definitively at this point we know far more than the doctor but who is house they keep referring to him but what is he where is he who is he we walk on his back breathe his air smell its armpits and do my will so basically house is doctor whose answer to ego the living planet and just like the marvel villain house feigns hospitality until the moment comes for his true motives to be revealed we learned that house has been luring time lords to the bubble universe to feed on their tardises there are lots and lots of [Music] turmeric there are no time lords here only ghosts really thought i had some friends here but this is what you translated picked up christ for help from the long dead it's heartbreaking seeing the doctor given so much hope only to see it all come crashing down in the wake of the time war this is his single greatest chance of finding some closure since the master refused to stay with him damon displays such an understanding of the character here you want to be forgiven and weaving the timeline into this narrative when it's already set to unravel so much about the show's entire history is neat it's probably the single biggest thing that ever happened to him right next too well stealing the tardis and running away so it's good that it's paid lip service here as well to tease him with the possibility that he's no longer the sole survivor of that war only to rip it away afterwards quickly pushes the doctor to his lowest and most vulnerable you gave me hope and then you took it away i know that the doctor traps the ponds in the tardis for their own good but also accidentally seals their fate as they are forced to fight house when he possesses the shell a brilliant example of the doctor taking people's choices away out of arrogance thinking he always knows best yet inadvertently dooming them amy pond's characterization is on point throughout the entire episode a bit of a pickle sort of distressed oh you can't just say you don't know how the door seemed to have looked behind us where he thinks there's a perfectly innocent explanation but i think he lied time lord stuff needed your other way in a story where she and the doctor spend most of it apart their relationship is as well realised as in their best episodes together he'll be fine he's a time lord it's just what they're called it doesn't mean he actually knows what he's doing tearing the ponds away from the doctor was also a wise decision of itself allowing smith to flex his acting chops and display some of that trademark 11 anger and his voice house repairs you when you break yes i know the patchwork people are proper gaymen uncle auntie and nephew felt they could be right at home in neverwhere i also love the inhuman way uncle and auntie accept death itself again feels very gay man and it's kind of funny the way uncle was just like um okay i'm gonna die now it's time for auntie and uncle pop off i'm against it they were originally meant to be more outlandish in appearance an amalgamation of lots of different aliens but surprise surprise budget constraints meant this had to be scaled back that's also why we ended up getting an ud instead of a brand new monster but in this case i'd definitely say that's a plus love a nude with the told his soul inside idris house flees the bubble universe in the ship's shell and means to torment amy and rory before killing them the doctrine idris have to find a way to escape the universe and catch up to house i'm the tardis here's the real meat of the episode what we're all really here for the chance for the doctor to interact with the tardis to speak to one another i borrowed you borrowing implies the eventual intention to return the thing that was taken what makes you think i would ever give you back gaiman uses it as an excuse to drop a bevy of fantastic revelations about their relationship i like the idea that he never stole her but she stole him she picked a timer to run away with it gives such a grand mystical and to be honest godly lends to the tardis you can't idris is rife with all those beautiful impossibilities that make a character like morpheus so compelling gaiman really does bring a sandman touch to the timeless time machine by giving her this magical non-linear perception of all things as well as a charming array of tricks i go the tardis has always been portrayed as more than just a machine but in this episode we definitively state it as a soul it's fascinating to think that all these ideas have always run through the heart of the show the tardis simply hasn't been able to articulate any of it beforehand sticks it into a living receptacle and then it feeds off the remaining artran energy you are about to say all that i don't suppose you have to now the inversion of their relationship this idea that it's really the tardis and not the doctor who drives their adventures is used to humorous effects too oh we have now reached the point in the conversation where you open the law [Music] together they recall their first ever meeting and the doctor remembers saying that she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever known does he still stroke bits of the task he does i'm like do you two want to be alone it's just about the right level of goofy that the doctor and the tardis have a bit of a floatation ship for what i call you i think you call me sexy only when we're alone but she's also like his mother you know calling him out on his impatience i know what i'm doing you're like a nine-year-old trying to rebuild a motorbike in his bedroom idris manages to order him around in a way that no companion ever really could and it's a delight to watch so have you any idea how childish that sounds you are not my mother it makes sense the tardis has always been there right from the moment he decided to run away and become the character we know and love she's seen all of his greatest triumphs and all of his heartbreaks she's been through virtually every regeneration and has kept him safe whilst also giving him all of his freedoms characterizing the tardis as a godly figure also helps to ground the doctor that we know and love sure the universe might see him as such and his arrogance might make him think he's infallible at times but here we're reminded that he is just a madman with a box you didn't always tell me where i wanted to go no but i always took you where you needed to go that that's freaking genius it just explains away 50 years of haphazard time travelling and balls down every single time our heroes ended up somewhere utterly random and no it didn't need saying that it's a sweet way of tying it all together and unlike more recent revelations it doesn't step on anyone's toes it doesn't negate any ideas or strip the tardis and the doctor of the enigma that makes them so interesting it merely posits that every adventure has been in service of the tardis caring for and watching over the doctor it's not about canon really it's about character that's why it works it would be a disservice to the ever excellent saran jones if i didn't speak about how utterly fantastic she is in the role at times it feels like the blueprint for a female doctor could have been this characterization makes sense as it further cements this almost symbiotic connection they have to each other but jones also captures the idea that this is an entity who has never walked a day in a humanoid form it successfully manages to swerve the born sexy yesterday trope as jones made sure to capture the weight and majesty of the tardis's greater understanding of time in the universe if anything idris carries the doctor through the adventure as he tries to keep up how secrets what do you mean i don't know something i heard you say in the future house eats tardis there you go it's a testament to this performance that i still think of jones whenever the doctor is subsequently referred to his time machine well this you might not be able to answer this but i'll give it a go we've heard rumors that idris is linked to the tardis can you tell us anything about that i can't tell you anything i can't tell you anything um uh is she linked to the tardis this isn't just any kind of junkyard it's a tardis graveyard i wonder how many of these earth objects are actually time machines in disguise hmm and as incredible as it is to see the doctor and idris look out across the valley of half-eaten tardis's this moment was almost even better in a scrapped moment idris was set to deactivate all the active chameleon circuits with a snap of her fingers still the visual effects team at the mill managed to conjure a striking image that tricks you into thinking this episode has twice the budget it really did to catch up to house and save the ponds the pair build their own tardis its design was actually the work of then 12 years old susanna lee as part of a 2009 blue peter competition to feature a fan made tardis in an episode as with the blue peter competition we mentioned in our love and monsters video this is always great to see and it's just wonderful that the children who watch the show get to actively be a part of it i actually always felt a bit sorry for the winner you know imagine winning a competition to see your very own creation in the show only to be informed by the producers that you'd have to wait two years to see it when the episode got delayed from series five to series six and time moves even slower when you're a kid you know you're like you're waiting all the time you're excited for things and it just seems like things take forever to get there so i know i would have been pretty damn impatient if i was them you haven't answered my question children you remember tell me why i shouldn't just kill you both now for the first time in knew who the tardis is truly unsafe michael sheen's voice is just perfect for house so chilling and yet conveying all those years of life in his weary tones what a great adventure i should have done this half a million years ago gaiman wanted house to evoke the classic whoville and the great intelligence and there's even a reference to that in a deleted bit of dialogue it's interesting that moffat then went on to use the villain as a primary threat in the following season and i guess it's a little weird that we ended up with two great intelligence-esque villains back-to-back maybe it would have been cool if house had returned instead shin could have reprised the role in the flesh the same way richly grant played a human avatar for the great intelligence the b-plot itself isn't spoken about enough in this episode which is understandable given the a plot is tardis does thing it's never ever done before but the pond's horrifying descent into the halls of the tardis is definitely worth praise all its own it's great to see the companions solving all their issues without the help of the doctor and house works really well as an omnipotent presence i'm rather enjoying the sensation of having you running around inside me juxtaposing idris whimsy house uses his control over time to create nightmarish illusions how long have you been here two thousand years i waited for you you did it to me gaiman recently shed some pages from a deleted moment we've known about for many years rory in the zero room from castro valver this would have been cool to see not only is a neat little reference to classic who but as a fun little action beat for mr pond at the same time rory is lucky he was included at all as you said this episode was originally scheduled to air as part of matt smith's freshman season but it had to be moved to series 6 when it became clear the scale of the story was going to make it too expensive to make for that series so in its place we've got a much more grounded series 5 episode of the lodger a story that sees the doctor absent from his tardis for almost the entire thing and the doctor's wife went from being a story featuring the doctor and amy to featuring the doctor and the ponds gaiman has since shared an alternate opening to the episode meant for the series 5 slot wherein the doctor and amy attempt to get into a beatles concert there was also a darker more morbid ending in mind for the series 5 version this would have been placed after rory died and before the finale in which he was revived so at this point in the story amy would have forgotten he even existed at all so the scene in question involved amy asking the doctor to promise he would never ever lie to her a promise he would have agreed to make even though he was keeping rory's death from her damn there was also set to be a sequence involving amy in the oft-mentioned swimming pool but it was cut because karen gillan cannot swim according to gaiman there was a whole host of scenes and ideas that had to be scrapped for the pond's terrifying tardis adventure including a sequence set in a hall of mirrors and a dark moment where rory would have been convinced amy was trying to kill him it's a bit of a shame that we didn't get more adventuring inside the tardis but it's easy to see why the doctor idris scenes took precedence in a story that is already squeezing so much into about 45 minutes it becomes clear why gaiman gave the doctor the cruel realization that his gallifrey and ken are all dead early in the episode oh my beautiful idiot we realize he doesn't need those far-flung hopes he just needs the one soul who has been with him from the very beginning you have what you've always had you've got me so together they managed to catch up to house and land in the 9th and 10th doctors control room that's awesome gaming and the moth planned to use the rtd control room back when it was due to be demolished the production kept it standing for about 18 months for this single set piece in a little homage to the fourth doctor using a second control room in the mask of mandragora it's really cool to see eleven and the ponds hanging out in the old tardis complete with house appropriate green lighting the novelty once again provides some added scope to the episode without breaking the bank it also meant that this control room featured in a whopping six series in a row seven if you count day of the doctor as part of series seven the big question is now you're here how to dispose of you i could play with gravity the way house is just god in the tardis is awesome and typically the only thing the doctor can do is talk his way out why would you tell me this because we want to get back to our universe as badly as you do and i'm nice the doctor so neatly tricks him into depositing them into the main control room where idris can take back the tardis in keeping with what gaiman describes as a core tenant of the show thinking your way out of difficulties even house with ultimate control over the ship is no match for the doctor and the tardis so small i love how low-key nasty smith gets here house meets a pretty horrific end finish him off girl and how can i show this scene without talking about this line fear me i've killed hundreds of titan lords fear me i've killed all of them after spending the episode hoping for some semblance of catharsis for his actions in the time war the doctor embraces who he is and the choices he made all whilst being a badass at the same time the deed is done and so is idris i'll always be here but this is when we talked i do wish they had more time together a two-parter would have been nice so we got even more idris doctor material but then that's kind of the point of this episode of course they'd always want more time together but they don't get it they get this little moment where they interacted she got to say hello and he'll always know she's there for him just that little bit more house is an evil cruel entity but his motivations are quite pure he wants to escape a hellish bubble universe where only he truly exists he just doesn't want to be alone similarly idris the tardis wants to feel connected to the doctor hello doctor it's so very very nice to meet you she wants to remind both of them that they are not and never will be alone house fails because he can only control people and once he loses that grip he loses his power the tardis team instead work together even when they're apart and it is this love for each other that sees them reunited and the day one and you don't care that it's impossible it's not impossible as long as we're alive roy and amy need me neil gaiman is one of those writers like moffitt or rtd where i'd love to just sit down with them and pick their brains over doctor who we used to get these little bottles of milk and you would drink your little bottle of milk and then you would bend the straw over and it would be a dalek they have such wonderful ideas on the way it all works offshoot stories and general trivia it's all just fascinating gaming is clearly a fanboy from childhood and that love runs rampant in every little line detail and reference in the doctor's wife this is my piece of fanfiction this really is this is i'm i love doctor who i've loved doctors since i was a kid but it never supersedes his need to tell a great story that is befitting of the series and the larger themes that have persisted since 1963. i'd love to see gaiman contribute to the show once again here's hoping he gets his wish by the time this episode is over it's done so much and in spite of the numerous script revisions and ideas that were unfortunately axed the doctor's wife manages to keep it all together it makes it feel like this lean old episode was meant to be this way and it manages to make you feel in one stunning episode in a series full of big reveals and game-changing cliffhangers this is where doctor who got a new lick of paint never again can we see the tardis as a mere machine she is his one true companion the connection immutable and every story that has ever made it to our screen since shines a light on this fact every episode past present and future shares this moment look at you pear it's always you and her isn't it long after the rest of us have gone when the tardis moves the lever by itself and the doctor delights in knowing that even though they'll likely never speak again she'll always be right by his side that's magic thank you for watching another full fat video don't forget to click that subscribe button and hit the bell if you'd like to see more breakdowns of movies tv and more a big thank you to our full fatty patrons dr chi k jax merrick and mike nandu you the boys until next time keep it full fat

Channel: Full Fat Videos

Views: 210,069

Keywords: Doctor Who The Doctor's Wife Video Essay, Doctor Who, The Doctor's Wife, Neil Gaiman, Neil Gaiman Doctor Who, Video Essay, Doctor Who Video Essay, The Doctor's Wife Video Essay, Analysis, Breakdown, Review, TARDIS, Doctor Who Human TARDIS, Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, Amy Pond, Karen Gillan, Rory Williams, Neil Gaiman Video Essay, Neil Gaiman Writing, Doctor Who TARDIS, Best Doctor Who Story, Best Doctor Who Stories, Doctor Who Best Episode, Doctor Who Best Episodes, Full Fat

Id: fgAFxIKeMSo

Length: 27min 15sec (1635 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 24 2020